JK Rowling Launches New ‘Harry Potter’ Website to Help Kids Learn While Stuck at Home

J.K. Rowling wants to make it a little easier for kids, parents and teachers stuck at home due to COVID-19 to enjoy “Harry Potter,” with the author on Wednesday launching a website featuring a handful of school-friendly activities based on her popular book series.

The new site, dubbed harrypotterathome.com, promises to “bring Hogwarts to you” via themed quizzes, videos, puzzles, and other activities. “We’re casting a banishing charm to boredom!” the site claims.

Rowling added her first book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” — or “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in the U.S. — will be available this month as a free audiobook. The book will be made available on Audible’s Stories platform, and the audiobook will also be available in more than a dozen languages on Overdrive library app.

“Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch harrypotterathome.com,” Rowling tweeted on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after Rowling recently announced teachers were free to read all seven “Harry Potter” books to their students via video chat. Her book series has sold more than half a billion copies worldwide since 1997, and spawned eight feature films starring Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

The Evolution of Daniel Radcliffe: From 'Harry Potter' to 'Equus' to 'Miracle Workers' (Photos)

Daniel Radcliffe began acting when he was 6 years old, playing a monkey in a school play. By the time he was 12, he was an international movie star, taking on the role of Harry Potter in a series of film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's books. He has gone on to portray everything from a World War I soldier killed in battle to a talking corpse with digestive issues to a political prisoner. Just take a look at his impressive résumé.

"David Copperfield" (1999) • This two-part BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic was Radcliffe's TV debut... and the first time he worked with future "Harry Potter" costar Maggie Smith. He played "young David."

BBC

"The Tailor of Panama" (2001) • Radcliffe's first feature film -- a spy thriller directed by John Boorman -- where he played the son of Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Columbia Pictures

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001) and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002) • At age 11, Radcliffe was cast as the title character in the series of film based on J.K. Rowling's books. It made this young lad an international household name.

Warner Bros.

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004) • Two years later, he returned to the role, this time with Harry discovering that an escaped prisoner and supporter of the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, intends to kill him.

Warner Bros.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005) • "Goblet" was the fourth in the "Potter" series"... and the first to receive a PG-13 rating for its for "sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images."

Warner Bros.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007) • Fans of the franchise will remember this as the film where Harry gets his first kiss.

Warner Bros.

"December Boys" (2007) • In this Australian film, Radcliffe played the eldest of four orphaned boys. To make sure his Australian accent sounded authentic, he practiced six months before filming began.

Warner Independent Pictures

"My Boy Jack" (2007) • In the British biopic made for TV set during World War I, Radcliffe plays the only son of author Rudyard Kipling.

PBS

"Equus" (2007) • Radcliffe moved past -- far past -- his clean-cut teenager image by taking on his first adult role in a West London stage production of "Equus." As a stable boy with an erotic obsession for horses, Radcliffe appeared nude on stage. Advanced ticket sales topped £1.7 million.

Photo by: Carol Rosegg

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2009) • Radcliffe was back at Hogwarts where he finds a book that reveals more about Lord Voldemort. It was Radcliffe's least favorite performance in the franchise, telling The Guardian in 2014, "I'm just not very good in it. I hate it."

Warner Bros.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" - Part 1 (2010), Part 2 (2011) • Ten years after first donning those famous round glasses and a phony z-shaped scar, Radcliffe appeared in his last two "Potter" films ... at least for the time being.

Warner Bros.

"The Woman in Black" (2012) • This supernatural thriller set in 19th century England stars Radcliffe as a lawyer who encounters a vengeful ghost in a remote village.

"Horns" (2013) • This dark fantasy horror film had Radcliffe playing a man falsely accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend, and then using his paranormal talents to find the real killer. Oh, and he has horns.

Dimension Films

"The F Word" (2013) • Radcliffe called this rom-com costarring Zoe Kazan his first ever contemporary film. Now that we think about it, he's right.

Entertainment One

"A Young Doctor's Notebook & Other Stories" (2012-2013) • Jon Hamm costarred with Radcliffe in this dark British comedy series about, you guessed it, a young doctor in a small Russian town during its 1917 revolution.

BBC Worldwide

"The Gamechangers" (2015) • This docudrama stars Radcliffe as Rockstar Games president Sam Hauser, who is embroiled in a legal feud with an American lawyer over the morality of the "Grand Theft Auto" video game series.

BBC Two

"Victor Frankenstein" (2015) • This fresh take on Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel is told from the perspective of Dr. Frankenstein's assistant Igor, played by Radcliffe.

20th Century Fox

"Swiss Army Man" (2016) • Radcliffe plays a talkative corpse... who has a flatulence problem. We kid you not.

A24

"Now You See Me 2" (2016) • In this ensemble heist film directed by John M. Chu, Radcliffe plays a nefarious tech boss, who wants a powerful chip that he plans to use to control all the world’s computers, and he decides to force the Four Horsemen team to steal it for him.

Summit Entertainment

"Imperium" (2016) • Radcliffe plays an FBI agent who, wanting to prove himself to his superiors, goes undercover as a white nationalist.

Lionsgate Premiere

"Jungle" (2017) • Based on the true story of Israeli adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg's trek into the Amazon rainforest, "Jungle" is up there when it comes to heart-stopping adventure... and a scene which The AV Club called "one of the purest cases of gross-out body horror put on screens" of the year.

"Guns Akimbo" (2019) • Radcliffe plays a computer programmer who uses newly-developed fight club skills to rescue his girlfriend from kidnappers in this action-comedy.

Altitude Film

"Miracle Workers" (2019-2020) • Radcliffe returned to the small screen in this TBS limited series playing a low-level angel responsible for handling all of humanity's prayers.

Warner Bros. Television

"Escape From Pretoria" (2020) • Once again, Radcliffe headlines a biopic, this time playing Tim Jenkin in the true-life thriller of two political prisoners during the apartheid days of South Africa.

Signature Entertainment

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Just take a look at his impressive body of work

Daniel Radcliffe began acting when he was 6 years old, playing a monkey in a school play. By the time he was 12, he was an international movie star, taking on the role of Harry Potter in a series of film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's books. He has gone on to portray everything from a World War I soldier killed in battle to a talking corpse with digestive issues to a political prisoner. Just take a look at his impressive résumé.